ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville men's and women's cross country teams head to Coastal Carolina today for the 2011 Big South Conference Championships tomorrow morning at the CCU Golf Course.

Both teams look to do their best on Saturday and hope to be peaking at the right time.

"We're excited about the championship and we've made steady progress throughout the year. We hope that shows up on Saturday," commented Asheville coach Jesse Norman.

The Bulldog men's squad has been led by freshman Kevin Paradise this year. Paradise has been Asheville's top runner in each of the Bulldogs four meets this year. Norman is hoping his seniors - Carlos Lopez, Eliud Chirchir and Sam Maynard - can have a big day on Saturday

"We're really pleased how Kevin has performed this year. And I know he'll be ready to make a run at finishing pretty high on Saturday," explained Norman. "We're looking for a big race from our seniors. It's their last Big South Conference meet and I know they want to go out with a great effort."

On the women's side, the Bulldogs have also been led by a freshman this year in Adrian Etheridge. She has been Asheville's top runner at all four of the Bulldogs meets in 2011.

Junior Clair Powell has been a solid performer for Asheville this year. Also running well for the Blue & White have been juniors' Kylie Smith, Alyska Kalmeijer and freshman Kasey Briggs.

"Adrian has done a nice job for us this year and she's only a freshman and will get better," said Norman. "We're looking for a solid race from her and our team on Saturday."